Of Sound Mind and Body
by PhantomKat
Summary: House's life is changed when he receives custody over the daughter of a deceased patient.
1. Willingness

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Just a little something I came up with. I hope y'all like it, and comments are appreciated, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Oh yeah, I, PhantomKat, unfortunately do not own House. It's very depressing. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 1: Willingness**

"Just where do you think you're going? You have at least two more hours of clinic duty."

House turned to face Cuddy, who wore an un-intimidating glare on her face.

"I'm going to the reading of Michael Henley's will. Apparently, if you diagnose a patient with death, they leave you something. I hope it's a boat."

As Cuddy threw down her hands in defeat, House smirked and slowly made his way out to his bike.

Half an hour later, he arrived at Mr. Henley's former home and limped to the front door. Judging by the fact that his bike was the only vehicle in the driveway, he assumed that the lawyer had not arrived yet. He rapped his cane on the door and waited to be let in. When the door did not open as expected, he rolled his eyes and went to let himself in; however, the door was locked. House rolled his eyes and took out the gym membership card he had stolen from Chase. He'd always known that it would come in handy. He swiped the card through the lock a couple times and was rewarded by the loosening of the knob. As he opened the door, loud strains of Aerosmith wafted through the hall. Always curious, House went to investigate the music.

In the living room, a familiar looking girl moved around to the words of Steven Tyler while air guitaring quite accurately. House's mind surged in recognition. It was the daughter, Annie or Alicia or something like that. She would walk around the hospital with that annoying hopeful look in her eyes. That look was obviously gone now that her father was gone; however, she looked way too happy for someone who had just lost her father.

House limped over to the stereo and abruptly turned off the music. The girl whipped around, dropping her hands, and blushed slightly when she saw she was not alone.

"When someone knocks on the door, usually the person inside lets them in."

"And when someone is not let in immediately, usually the person waits."

House shrugged.

"I got bored."

Before the girl could retort, the doorbell rang.

"Observe, you might learn something."

She answered the door, and let in an older, well-dressed man that House could only assume was the lawyer. They all shook hands; then, got down to business. The lawyer, Mr. Anderson, placed his glasses on his nose, took out his papers, and began the necessary procedures. House flopped down on the couch, propping his feet on the coffee table, looking on with interest.

"Now that we are all assembled, I will read the last will and testament of Michael Sean Henley. I, Michael Sean Henley, being of sound mind and body…"

The lawyer continued to drone on, and House, growing bored, popped a couple of Vicodin and began twirling his cane absentmindedly.

"Finally, I, Michael Sean Henley, entrust the care of my daughter, Audrey Michelle Henley, to," he paused to adjust his glasses while Audrey straightened and focused her full attention on Mr. Anderson, "one, Dr. Gregory House."

House's head snapped forward, and he jumped up, ignoring the painful twinge in his leg.

"What?!"

House's outburst was joined by Audrey's voice, which matched his tone of incredulity.

"Mr. Henley felt you would be the best to care for Audrey."

"He was a moron. Who in their right mind would give me a kid?"

"The will stipulates that you are to take custody, Dr. House."

"Why can't someone else take her?" He jabbed his cane in the lawyer's direction. "Why can't you take her?"

"It was not Michael's wish. This is a legal contract, Dr. House. It's binding and there are no other instructions regarding her care." He put away his glasses and finished putting away his papers. "I imagine the two of you have much to talk about, so good day."

"Thanks a lot," muttered House, throwing himself back on the couch. Audrey showed the lawyer out, and sank back down to the couch in a state of disbelief. House cocked his head and studied her for a moment before speaking.

"So, what do you want to talk about? Lip-gloss and boys?"

Audrey rolled her eyes and threw him an exasperated glare.

"Just making conversation."

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House burst into his conference room and threw a file down on the table, making his three team members jump. Cameron looked to the clock confused.

"It's nine-thirty. What are you doing here?"

"We don't even have a case," pointed out Chase.

"We do now." House talked as he wiped off the dry-erase board. "Michael Henley."

"We diagnosed him already," Foreman protested. "In fact, he died last week."

"I know. I went to the reading of his will yesterday."

"So what are we doing?" asked Foreman cautiously, knowing this turn of events could not be good.

"May I present Exhibit A." House gestured to the door, where Audrey was quietly standing.

"Isn't that his daughter?" asked Cameron, still a bit confused.

"Actually, I guess she's my daughter now since I'm her legal guardian."

"Who in their right mind would give you custody of a kid?" Chase looked as if he was waiting for the punch line.

"Exactly my point, but that is not the most interesting part."

Audrey rolled her eyes and whispered to Foreman, "Is he always like this?"

"Pretty much."

"Hey, no talking in the ranks. As I was saying, the interesting thing is that she seems indifferent to his passing, almost happy."

"That's your big symptom? Indifference?" Foreman was sure that his tone matched the skepticism of his other two colleagues. "It's probably just a coping mechanism."

"Really? Chase killed a patient when his father died. Was that just a coping mechanism? 'Cause if it is, we should all watch our backs. Either she doesn't give a crap that her father kicked the bucket, or she's really good at hiding it. Okay, so let's hear some theories."

There was silence as Chase, Cameron, and Foreman looked at each other. House inevitably broke the silence after a moment.

"See when I say 'let's hear some theories', you all are supposed to say medical things."

"I agree with Foreman, it's just a coping mechanism."

"Thank you, Cameron. Chase what about you? Any radical ideas or are you going to conform too?"

Chase sighed. "She could be taking drugs to deal with the feelings and the mood is enhanced by the drugs."

"Um, I know you've all forgotten, but I'm still here."

"How could we forget? Your presence just fills the room. Okay, do a complete tox screen and an MRI."

"Why?"

"Because I said so. And because I'm her guardian, I give my permission for the tests. Now get to it."

Foreman and Chase took Audrey out of the room; however, Cameron stayed behind.

"Didn't you hear me? Go."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get some tests done."

"There's nothing wrong with her."

"Her dad just kicked the bucket and she was rocking out to Aerosmith like there was no tomorrow. Were you jamming to Steven Tyler when your husband died?"

"That's not the point. You only accepted custody because you think there's something wrong with her. What happens when you find the answer, if there is one? Are you just going to dump her, leave her with Child Service's and never look back?"

"Don't know. It depends on how interesting she is."

"If you hurt her…"

"What? What unspeakable horror will you unleash on me that you have never done before? Will you give me the silent treatment? I'm all aquiver with fear. Go do the tests."

Cameron gave him a reproachful look, yet she left to join Chase and Foreman just as Wilson entered House's office.

"Who is that?"

"That was Cameron. Do you have amnesia now?"

"Not her, the other girl. Did you get a new intern?"

"No," House sat and lifted his leg to rest on the desk. "That's my daughter."

"Your daughter?" Wilson sat down. "So you finally reproduced; we are so screwed."

"Laugh it up. She's not really my daughter. Some patient thought I was the best choice for a legal guardian."

"And you accepted that?"

"Nope. There's something wrong with her."

"Of course there is."

"She's not upset about her father dying. That's not normal, so I've got the team is running a tox screen and an MRI."

"Have you tried asking her why she's not upset?"

"Of course I did. All I got was that stony teenage stare."

"You mean the one you give me all the time."

House thought for a moment.

"Yeah."

"You two are perfect for each other."

"Sure. A match made in heaven."

"Have you made an effort to get to know her?"

"Nope."

"Do you even know her name?"

"Sure, it's Alice or Andrea or something that starts with an 'A'"

"Gregory Michael House…" Wilson said warningly.

House blinked.

"Are you really going to use the Middle Name Card on me? That's not even my middle name."

"I was going for shock value."

"Her name is Audrey. See, I do pay attention sometimes."

"Is the only reason you're…taking care of her that you're wondering what's wrong with her?"

"Pretty much."

"What happens after you find out what's wrong with her?"

"Here we go. Is this going to be another lecture?"

"House, I know you. Once something is uninteresting, you drop it, but this is a kid. She's not a pet. You can't just leave her at your place during the day after feeding her once. You have to take care of her."

"Is that a crack about Steve? I was so good to him."

"Until you killed him."

House ignored his friend's statement.

"And why does everyone assume that I have no idea how to take care of a teenage girl?"

"Because you have no experience and you hate kids."

"I do not."

Wilson looked at him reproachfully.

"Fine, so I do. It's not like it really matters."

"Be careful, House. Remember, she's human."

Wilson left the office, leaving House twirling his cane, lost in thought.

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"Is this completely necessary?"

Foreman finished taking a sample of Audrey's blood before answering.

"If you want House off your back, then yes. You're all set."

Audrey rubbed the injection site tenderly.

"Why is he so interested about how I act?"

"Frankly, he doesn't see your reaction to be normal, and he wants to know why."

"It's not like you're going to find anything. Accept," she admitted, "a little bit of alcohol."

Foreman grinned.

"We all did that at your age."

"Thanks. Do you have to do the MRI?"

"Unless you want to tell me what's really driving your behaviour."

"Will you tell House?"

"Probably."

"So he'll get off your backs or so his curiosity is satisfied?"

Foreman chuckled softly.

"The former."

"That's what I thought."

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"The tox screen came back negative, except for a small amount of alcohol in her system."

"And the MRI?"

House looked through the glass walls of his office to where Audrey was waiting, absentmindedly bouncing a super ball off the floor. When no one answered, House turned his attention back to the team in time to see them look nervously at each other.

"Well?"

"We didn't do an MRI."

"And that was because…?"

Foreman rolled his eyes.

"Do we have to spell it out for you, House? There's nothing wrong with her. Look at her. She's like a miniature female version of you but toned down a little. What would you do if your father died?"

House took another long look at his new ward before making a decision.

"Do the MRI."

"But Foreman said…" Cameron began.

"I don't care what Foreman said. I said to do an MRI, now get to it."

"Why do you insist on doing this? You're not going to find anything," put in Chase.

"That couldn't be my team talking. They're busy doing an MRI."

Knowing that they would not get anything else from House, the team pulled Audrey away from her super ball and whisked her away to perform the test.

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"Do you guys always bend to his every wish?"

"He's easier to deal with this way," responded Cameron. "Just try to not to move."

She moved to view the monitors as Audrey slid into the machine.

"So," started Chase conversationally as he adjusted the controls of the machine, "do you think House has really lost it this time?"

"He probably doesn't know what to do with her," responded Cameron.

"Guys, her heart rate's increasing."

Cameron flicked on the microphone. "Audrey, are you okay?"

A small voice responded to the question with a quiet "yes".

"Almost done." Chase stared at the image on the screen. "Nothing seems to be out of sorts."

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"So what did you find out?"

"Well, apart from the fact that she's claustrophobic," replied Cameron, "nothing."

"The MRI is completely normal. There's no anomalies, not even a shadow," pointed out Chase.

"Claustrophobic? Interesting…"

"Are you satisfied now? She's completely normal. Foreman was right; it's just a coping mechanism," Cameron protested.

"Maybe…" House checked his watch and jumped up as quickly as his injury would allow. "Gotta go."

"Where are you going now?" queried Foreman.

"I've got clinic duty."

"You're volunteering for that? Are you feeling okay?" Cameron looked at him incredulously.

House ignored the question and opened the door to the conference room.

"Hey kid, let's blow this popsicle stand."

Audrey got up and followed House.

"I have a name, you know."

"Yeah, I'll learn it eventually."

They made their way downstairs and were almost out of the door when Cuddy stopped them.

"House, you've got clinic duty, and you still have two hours to make up from yesterday."

"As much as I would love to stare into various orifices, I've got fatherly duties to attend to."

"Uh huh."

"I'm serious. Audrey and I have some bonding time to get on with."

"You actually do know my name. I'm impressed."

"She's your kid now?"

"Yep. What more could you as for in a guardian? I'm charming, witty, good-looking…"

"My condolences."

"To me or to her?"

"To her. You're off the hook this time, House, but you're not going to shirk your duties tomorrow."

"Good to know."

Cuddy moved off, and House turned to see Audrey staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Is that all I am now that there's nothing wrong with me? A doctor's note to get you out of clinic duty?"

"I never said there was nothing wrong with you."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"That's all in your head. You must have a reason for your behavior."

"Do you?"

House held up his cane.

"Um, cripple. I'm in pain."

"Maybe that's all in _your_ head. Maybe my condition or lack thereof is all in your head."

"Nope. I'm pretty sure I'm a cripple."

"And my condition?"

House said nothing, but walked away from her toward the parking lot. Audrey rolled her eyes and followed him, muttering something about cranky cripples.

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"So, this is it. You can have the couch as long as Wilson doesn't need a place to crash. If that happens, you move to the floor."

Audrey looked around House's apartment.

"How…generous of you."

"I try."

House limped over to the closet and, throwing in his jacket, gestured to the back.

"Sheets 'n' stuff are back there…somewhere…I think."

He moved through the room as Audrey stood in the doorway looking around at the rooms.

"Kitchen," he motioned with his cane. "Hope you like canned soup and peanut butter."

"Don't need any of that. Don't you know? When a close family member cops it, neighbors give you tons of food. Hope you like lasagna."

House stared at her considering her comment.

"Sweet. Well, other than that you're on your own."

"I'm not six. You don't need to baby-sit me."

"Awesome, then I'm going to go do…grown up stuff."

"I don't even want to know."

"Well, good, 'cos I wasn't going to tell you anyway."

Audrey rolled her eyes, something she was doing with increasing frequency now that House was her guardian, and collapsed on the couch, hoping sleep would come quickly.

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**So, the next chapter will be up in about a week. All reviews are greatly appreciated, just no flames please! **

**Hugs, **

**PK**


	2. Daddy?

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reviewing! Y'all make me feel special! Anyhoo, here's the next chapter, enjoy, review, and standard disclaimer applies!**

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**Chapter 2: Daddy?**

"Wake up! The apartment's on fire!"

"What?!"

Audrey jerked awake, nearly falling from the couch. Once her eyes adjusted, she could see House leaning against the kitchen doorway, snickering to himself. She glared at him and disentangled herself from the sheets.

"I would so love to hurt you right now."

"I have that effect on a lot of people."

"How many go through with the feeling?"

"Not many have the guts to ruin this wonderful being standing before you. Go ahead bask in my glow."

Instead of basking, Audrey let loose with a hacking cough, making House look at her with interest.

"What was that?"

"Um…a cough."

"No, it's a puzzle piece."

"What?"

"Get dressed. We've got a team to consult."

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House and Audrey walked into his office with her repeated protests and his blatant disregard hanging around them.

"It was just a cough. I've been a bit sick for the past week. It's not a big deal."

"Good morning, Vietnam," greeted House, limping into the his conference room. He looked around. "Are we missing someone."

"Yeah," replied Chase, "Foreman went down to the clinic because we don't have a patient."

"What does this look like?" He pointed his cane in Audrey's direction.

"Um, a girl with a coping mechanism?" Cameron countered.

"No, a girl with a medical problem."

"Why won't you drop this? There's clearly nothing wrong with her. Her dad just died. Cut her some slack."

House limped over to the whiteboard and added "cough" to the short list of symptoms.

"So, what could this mean?"

"Common cold," Cameron looked challengingly at House.

"Pneumonia," suggested Chase.

"Why can't you people think out of the box?"

House's beeper echoed through the room. He checked the screen and without another word, headed for the door.

"Where are you going now?" questioned Cameron.

"Cuddy needs some lovin'."

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"You beeped?"

"What is this?"

Cuddy held out a bill for him to see.

"It looks like a carpet cleaning bill."

"And it's the exact amount of an MRI."

"Well, it chose a good disguise."

"House, we have talked about this before. Why do you insist on trying to hide your expenses?"

"Mostly because it makes that funny little vein on your forehead stand out."

"Would you like to tell me what this MRI was for?"

"There was a stain on my office carpet. I think Cameron and Chase went at it last Monday."

"Fine. But I won't tolerate this anymore."

"That's what you said last time."

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"She's kind of cute. It's too bad House is on her case."

"Yeah, usually it's sort of a good thing. And are outward appearances everything to you?"

Chase and Cameron walked back to House's office, conversing about Audrey.

"Well, sometimes people can't help but notice what's in front of them."

"Way to dodge bullet there, Chase."

The pair swiveled their heads to find House limping along behind them, listening to their conversation.

"Did either of you find out what was wrong with whats-her-name?"

"Common cold," spoke up Cameron. "Just as I predicted."

"No need to get all smug about it."

House entered his office to find Audrey sitting at his desk, examining his oversized tennis ball.

"Guess what I just found out."

"Do I want to know?"

"Apparently, Chase here says you're hot and wants to sleep with you."

Chase looked thunderstruck, and quickly stammered out a correction as Audrey blinked in surprise.

"N-no, I never said that!"

"He's right. I read it in his diary."

"No way! All I said was that you were cute!"

Audrey slowly looked from House to Chase and back.

"You," she pointed at House, "are sick. And don't worry about it Chase, he'll say anything for a reaction or attention for that matter."

"You've got me all figured out don't you?"

"Pretty much. Now if you don't need any fake tests done, I'll see you later. I've got some stuff I gotta do."

She sneezed lightly and strode out of the room, leaving Chase and Cameron to stare incredulously at House.

"What was that all about?" asked Chase, his blood beginning to heat up.

"Just wanted to see her reaction. She didn't like the idea of having sex with you. Now, do you think something's wrong with her?"

"No, I think something's wrong with you."

"You're just mad because she didn't fall for that English charm of yours."

"I'm Australian."

"Isn't that what I said?" House sat down in his now empty chair. When he still saw them standing in front of him, he asked, "Don't you two have anything better to do than stand here and stare at me? I mean, I know the sight of me is unbelievable, but this is taking it a bit far. There's a janitor's closet down the hall if you want to go make out."

Cameron gaped at him before turning swiftly on her heel and muttering 'unbelievable' as she left the office. After another moment and a shooing motion from House, Chase similarly left also shaking his head and grumbling to himself. House smirked and leaned back, twirling his cane. He had to do something to rid himself of the boredom.

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House opened his door to find the glow of the television illuminating Audrey's sleeping form. It seemed like she'd moved a bit more of her things in that afternoon while he mulled the issue of her over in his head. He had a hard time remembering the last time a single person took up so many hours of his precious thoughts.

He limped over to find an empty mug, a bottle of Nyquil, and used tissues littering the coffee table. Sighing, he took the controller from beneath her limp hand, and switched off the set.

"Show's not over yet," mumbled Audrey.

"Rest assured that Raymond Burr will bring whoever it is to justice."

Unconsciously, he reached down and laid the back of his hand on her forehead. Once he realized what he was doing, he snatched his hand away like it had been burned. Still, she felt only slightly warm. She'd be fine in the morning.

"How do you feel?"

"Sleepy."

The corners of House's mouth twitched upward.

"You'll be fine."

"M'kay," she mumbled, her words muffled by the pillow. "'Night, Daddy."

House stared at her, stunned until her breathing slowed and he was sure she was asleep.


	3. Getting to Enable You

Sorry, for the long wait, but the holidays and the end of the semester kinda crept up on me. Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! They make me happy!

socrgrl14: Audrey is about 17, medium height and build with light skin, green/hazel eyes, and longish-red hair. I'm going to draw a picture of her and post it on deviantArt by the next chapter.

Also, I'm thinking of doing a sequel, so I'd like some feedback on that.

Standard disclaimer applies! Enjoy!**ng to Enable You**

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Chapter 3: Getti

"She called you 'Daddy'?"

"Yep. I think she was too doped up on cold medicine to know who she was talking to. Besides it proves that she's upset about her father."

Wilson and House walked through the cafeteria line, grabbing sandwiches and bags of chips.

"Or maybe you're growing on her."

They reached the cashier, and House jerked his head towards Wilson.

"He's getting this one."

Wilson rolled his eyes, and pulled out his wallet. After paying, he followed House, eager to throw in his two cents.

"Admit it, you like her."

House cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I don't like anybody."

"You like me."

"No, I tolerate you."

"Uh huh, sure. C'mon, House, I've seen you two together. You're…brighter when she's around, almost happy."

"Are you a shrink now as well as an oncologist?"

"No, it's just that…you're miserable, and she's miserable. The two of you can commiserate together."

"That's your great epiphany? We're both miserable?"

"That and she's still a mystery."

"And that's the reason I keep her around. The only reason."

Audrey plopped down at the table.

"Talking about me?"

"Yep."

Audrey flashed a grin at House and pilfered some of his chips.

"Glad I'm interesting enough to warrant an entire conversation."

House's lips twitched as Wilson looked on with interest.

"Anyway, Cuddy's on the lookout for you. Apparently, she's going to make sure you do your clinic hours today."

"Are you the clinic police now? Are you going to make sure I do my duty of diagnosing whiny kids with running noses and annoying mommies?"

"Nope," Audrey stood up. "I'm giving you advanced notice so you can start hiding. You should try a stairwell; she probably wouldn't start looking there. Bye, Wilson."

She bounced out to places unknown, a subtle smirk decorating her face. Trying to hide the triumphant look on his face, Wilson sipped his soda; however, House caught sight of the self-satisfied smile.

"I do not like her."

"Sure. You just like the fact that she's a puzzle with missing pieces and that she's enabling you without cause."

House pretended to think for a moment.

"Yep."

"All hail Pharaoh House, king of denial."

"Ha ha. Did you come up with that one all by yourself?"

House snatched a couple of chips from Wilson's plate as Wilson took a second to think of a rebuttal. Seeing his chips disappear, Wilson gestured toward him in frustration.

"See! You two are exactly alike."

House looked at him condescendingly.

"No, we're not. She didn't eat _your_ chips."

He got up leaving his tray for Wilson to take care of and smiled to himself at Wilson's sigh of aggravation. Then he left to find the nearest stairwell.

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Wilson casually walked about the hallways, looking for Audrey. It seemed she was just as elusive as House could be. Finally, he found her retrieving a chocolate bar out of one of the many vending machines placed around the hospital. She looked up when he approached and greeted him with a wave of silver wrapper.

"Hey, can I talk to you?"

Audrey nodded, swallowing. "What about?"

"Um," Wilson glanced around, and, thinking better about their position, ushered her into his office.

Audrey looked around, taking in the new surroundings. She gestured to the posters behind his desk.

"Cool posters. I like the _Vertigo_ one."

She flopped down on the couch, unknowingly in a very House-like manner. Wilson leaned against the edge of his desk, arms folded across his chest.

"So, what's up?"

"Was just wondering what you're up to?"

"I don't follow."

"You went from disliking him to enabling him."

"That's what you do, right? Enable him?"

"Yes," he replied slowly.

"Well, that seems to be the way to live with House."

Wilson looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to go on. Audrey sighed.

"Look, either I learn to live with House by staying interesting and enabling him, or I wind up in the system. And I _really_ don't want to end up there. I'm not stupid; I know what can happen there."

She looked up at him challengingly, and he sighed, defeated.

"I guess you know what you're doing, but I think you're more interesting to him than you know."

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House stretched his leg out and checked his watch. Two hours and fifty-three minutes, a new personal best. He wondered if Cuddy had stopped searching yet. The thump of footsteps echoed through the stairwell. House reluctantly leaned back, closing his eyes and bracing himself for one of Cuddy's rants. The footsteps stopped, and House peered through one eye, but, instead of seeing a pair of stilettos tapping impatiently, a pair of Converse sneakers greeted him.

"How's it going?"

"Are you always this cheery?"

Audrey sat down and rested her head in her hands.

"Only when I'm amused. Are you always this touchy?"

"Only when I've been sitting in a stairwell for three hours."

Audrey gave him a knowing look.

"Touché. Cuddy's looking all over the place for you, you know. I think she's going through all the drawers in the morgue right now."

House smirked, extremely pleased with himself. Then he stood up, and, wincing at the pain, started for the door. Audrey stood up confused.

"Are you actually going to turn yourself in and work the clinic?"

"Nope. The morgue is conveniently far away from the front door, so the chances of simply walking out are high." He turned to her, his hand resting on the door handle. "You coming?"

She jumped off the stairs, and followed him down the halls of the hospital. Both kept a careful eye out for Cuddy, but she was conveniently absent from their path.

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"Are we actually going to be civilized and use plates tonight?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

House limped in to his apartment in front of Audrey, who held a large, greasy brown bag of Thai food. Suddenly, he fell against the couch, grasping it and his cane tightly. House got back on his feet slowly, massaging his thigh.

"You okay?"

House turned back to Audrey.

"Yeah. It's just I now know that there's a 48% chance of rain tonight."

He flopped down on the couch, propped his feet up on the coffee table, picked up the remote, and looked at her expectantly.

"Well, aren't you going to get me a beer?"

Audrey rolled her eyes and, giving him the bag, tromped off to the kitchen to retrieve his booze. Taking out the many cartons and chopsticks, House grinned to himself and began to dig in, looking around at Audrey's belongings.

They were all arranged and folded just so. Even the sheets were folded neatly at the edge of the couch with her pillow placed carefully on top. House reached over with his cane and pushed the sheets to the floor.

"Why is all your stuff so…neat?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

She handed him his beer and sat down next to him.

"And you say that like you want to avoid my question."

"My stuff is so neat because that way I can tell if you go through it or not."

"Me? Go through your private, personal belongings? You don't know me at all."

"Whatever you say." She turned her attention to the television where the WWF played on, oblivious to their conversation.

"How can you watch this?"

"Two guys beat each other up for two hours. How can you not watch this?"

"It's the Spandex they're wearing, right? That's the big draw."

"Oh, you're a funny one," he shot back mirthlessly.

Audrey reached over, and while grabbing her own white carton, she snatched the remote from his hand. Before he could react, Audrey switched the channel and tossed the controller out of House's reach.

"You are evil."

"Yep."

The sound of gunfire drew his attention to the screen.

"Lethal Weapon?"

"What? It's a great movie."

House smiled to himself and settled back into the couch, not willing to admit out loud that she'd made a good choice.

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Sharp twinges woke House from his deep sleep. With each passing second the pains grew sharper until he could ignore them no longer. Wincing, he reached for his Vicodin bottle on his bedside table. A sharp jolt of pain shot through him, making his hand shake and knock the bottle onto the floor and out of his reach.

House cursed violently through gritted teeth and began sitting up, slowly moving his right leg so as not to cause anymore trouble. More twinges passed through the dead tissue, and House gripped the bedsheets to help get him through the pain. Small beads of sweat slid down his forehead as the pain surged through the dead muscle. The light tread of barefeet on hardwood made him look up.

Audrey, who looked unfamiliar in her pajama bottoms and t-shirt, came through the doorway silently, retrieved his pill bottle and sat next to him. As she opened the top, House held out his hand expectantly, fighting off another wave of pain. Three white capsules dropped into his palm, and he swallowed them immediately and waited for the throbbing to subside.

Audrey stood, placed the bottle back in its proper place, then left the room without uttering a single word. House stared after her, wondering what could make her behave this way. It made no sense. She had done nothing but enable him from the beginning of their uncommon situation. Why the sudden change? Why would she even deign to unselfishly help him when he'd been such a jackass? He really didn't understand people sometimes, but that's what made people interesting.

House gradually rose; then, retrieving his cane and gripping it with abnormal force he made his way to the couch, where he plopped down and addressed Audrey.

"You up for a pajama party?"

"A pajama party?"

"We are in pajamas. And if you add booze, cold take-out, and a Ouija board to the mix, you've got a party."

"I would've pegged you for a late-night prank caller."

House blinked for a moment, mulling the suggestion over in his head.

"You're right, forget the Ouija board." He got up and limped over to the fridge, tossing a beer in Audrey's direction. She caught it just barely and looked at the label then back at him.

"Who's enabling who now?"

"Just drink it." House came back with what was left of the six pack and lowered himself into the cushions, looking on curiously as Audrey pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them.

"Winner takes a swig."

"Where's the fun in that?" asked House looking at his cards.

"Well, the loser takes two swigs." Audrey studied her own hand.

"You're on."


	4. Acceptance

Final chapter! w00t! I'd like to take the time to thank everyone who reviewed or favourited. Also, a big thanks to CrystalDragon, my beta and the Wilson to my House.

There is a sequel in the works, so you can let me know what you think about that. It should be up in maybe a month, hopefully. *crosses fingers*

I own nothing, except Audrey, for she is my own creation. That makes me a tiny bit happy I suppose.

Enjoy!!!**

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Chapter 4: Acceptance

"House."

House felt a sharp jab in his shoulder and the voice got more persistent.

"_House."_

He rubbed his face, ignoring the small twinge in his head and opened his eyes. The image of Wilson appeared before his eyes.

"I hope you're a hallucination."

Satisfied House was awake, Wilson backed off and folded his arms across his chest, glancing down at the beer bottles littering the coffee table.

"How many did you have last night?"

House thought for a minute, blinking. The twinge in his head was growing more and more evident as the minutes ticked away.

"I think three. Then about a half a bottle of bourbon."

"There are five bottles here."

"Well," House spoke as if he stated the obvious, and moved forward to make his point, but a now evident weight on his shoulder stopped him. Audrey was resting her head on his shoulder, breathing steadily, asleep. House looked intently at her, before reacting.

"Explains why my arm is asleep. Anyway, she drank the rest." He suddenly looked at Wilson like he was seeing his friend for the first time.

"How did you get in here?"

"I walked through the door."

"The door was locked, and unless you're David Copperfield, you should be outside, knocking incessantly."

"I have a copy of your key."

"My key?"

"Yeah, I made it the last time I stayed over."

House moved Audrey off his shoulder and stood up, fighting a wave of dizziness that overcame him. At least, Wilson finally got the concept of doing things behind his back. Amused by his friend's actions and motivated by the call of nature, House made his way to the back of the apartment, loudly talking to Wilson over his shoulder.

"You still haven't said what you're doing here."

"Cuddy called, and…"

"And you decided to be the good son, and make sure I actually get to work today," interrupted House.

"She asked me to ensure that you actually got to the clinic today."

House came back to the living room to give Wilson a condescending look.

"You are so whipped."

"Whi-what? I am not whipped."

House grabbed a shirt from the closet and disappeared with a childish, "Are too."

"Am not!"

From the couch, Audrey yawned and sat up, noticing Wilson.

"Oh hey, Wilson. What's up?"

Wilson shrugged out a response.

"House is acting like a child."

"So what else," Audrey stopped and pressed a palm to her forehead with a quiet moan before going on, "is new?"

"You know I may be crippled, but I'm not deaf."

"House are you ready yet?"

A short pause was followed by a petulant, "No."

"Quit stalling."

No response followed Wilson's latest command, but he was sure House had made some snarky remark. He rolled his eyes and continued to wait. By this time, Audrey had gotten up and found the aspirin. She swallowed two of the white pills and rubbed her temples tiredly. Noticing Wilson's stare, she addressed him.

"Coffee? He is gonna take a long time."

Wilson conceded with a nod of his head, making Audrey grin and pull out two mugs.

Three cups of coffee later, House emerged, buttoning up a blue shirt. Wilson set down his cup and looked at his watch.

"Finally. Looks like you beat your old time."

House took Audrey's cup and drained the liquid with a quick swallow. Giving the mug back to her, he gave her a sly look and seemed to ignore Wilson's exasperated comment.

"Did we ever finish that game last night?"

Audrey opened her mouth to answer, but Wilson caught on to their scheme and thrust House's cane into his hand.

"We are going _now_ before Cuddy gets even more livid."

Throwing an apologetic look at House, Audrey shrugged.

"Sorry, Moses."

House stared at her for a moment before recognizing the reference.

"Better luck next time, Addie."

With that, Wilson basically pushed House out of the apartment to his Volvo.

"Hey, watch it! I am still a cripple you know."

Wilson muttered something that sounded like "unbelievable" while House tossed back a couple Vicodin and rested his head against the seat back, trying not to think about his throbbing head.

Cuddy was waiting in front of the clinic, tapping her toe impatiently against the cold linoleum tiles. When House walked in, under duress, and closely followed by Wilson, she walked up so he couldn't escape. House rolled his eyes and steeled himself behind his façade of uncaring for whatever Cuddy had to throw his way.

"Nice of you to join us today, Dr. House, and you're only," she checked her watch exaggeratedly, "forty-five minutes late. Thank you, Dr. Wilson."

Satisfied his job was done, Wilson headed off for the elevators, leaving House to the mercy of Cuddy, of which there was little.

"So, you have skipped clinic duty for the past two days."

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Therefore, you will be in the clinic all day today and all day tomorrow, unless a case comes up." She gestured to the clinic. "Get to it."

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An hour and a half later, House reclined on the examination table, the tinny music of his game echoing through the empty room. Electronic fanfare congratulated him on the completion of a level. He began the next level, skillfully guiding his character through various obstacles. Suddenly, the door swung open, and Cuddy, wearing her usual annoyed expression and low-cut top, burst into the exam room.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I'm trying to get Samus to the next level. Wait, was that a rhetorical question?"

Cuddy marched over and snatched the game from his hands.

"Hey!"

"When I told you that you had to work in the clinic today, this was not what I meant. There is a whole waiting room full of patients out there. You'll get this back only after you complete your clinic hours this week. Is that understood?"

"Yes, mom."

"Good."

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"She treated me like a child."

"Well, were you acting like a child?" House shot Wilson a meaningful look. "Oh, of course, it was you, and you _never_ act like a child. I'm sure you were very mature."

"Don't make me stick my tongue out at you."

"So, you're actually going to do clinic duty?"

"Yep. I gotta get my game back. I'm about to beat your high score."

House entered the clinic, grabbed a folder, and faced the patients.

"Okay, who's my first victim?"

"Don't you mean patient?" spoke up a balding man sitting in front of him.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure I mean victim. If I'd meant patient, I would have said 'patient'."

From her office doorway, Cuddy rolled her eyes as a middle-aged woman with a tow-headed toddler apprehensively stood up.

House showed them into exam room one and proceeded to examine the boy as the mother talked on worriedly.

"Jeremy's been breathing strangely for the last few hours. It sounds like he's whistling…"

"Yeah, I can hear that."

The woman went on as if she hadn't heard him.

"…but he can't be whistling. He doesn't know how. He's never had any history of breathing problems. No asthma or anything like that…"

"Tell me," interrupted House loudly. "Does your son make it a habit to stick his breakfast up his nose?"

"I-what?"

House limped over to the cabinet and grabbed a tissue; then, returned to the boy's side and held the tissue in front of the boy's nose.

"Blow," he commanded. "Your son stuffed a Cheerio up his nose."

He took the tissue away to reveal a ring of cereal mixed with snot. Jeremy giggled, delighted with the disgusting sight he'd created.

"And you call yourself a mother." He threw away the offending Cheerio, ignoring the affronted glare the woman threw his way. Ruffling the little scamp's hair, he made his way out of the exam room and back to the nurse's station. Out of the blue, Audrey appeared at his elbow.

"Hey, Cuddy said it was cool if I cut in line, so to speak. So, can we…" she nodded to the exam room.

"Sure."

House closed the door behind them and leaned against the wall while Audrey hopped up on the exam table, not bothering to pull down the butcher paper.

"So is there something…medically wrong with you?"

"Would it really matter? Can you close the blinds? It's kinda embarrassing."

House complied, puzzling over why she would choose to open up to him now; then, looked at her expectantly.

"So what is it? A weird smell? I can prescribe some wicked antiperspirants."

"No, nothing like that. It's just," she rooted around in her bag before tossing him a compact sliver object, "I can't get past Level 28."

House grinned as he caught the device effortlessly.

"You little sneak. How'd you get this?"

"Well, I found myself in Cuddy's office yesterday, and as she went on about the new shrink and how he could really help me out after my great loss, I noticed this sitting on top of her desk. Turns out she doesn't have eyes in the back of her head."

"Good to know."

He powered up the GameBoy and proceeded to make his way through Level 28.

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"House, you haven't seen anyone in over an hour. What is so important…?"

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what was going on.

"Level 33 completed," beeped the game.

"Your turn," Audrey casually handed House the console as if Cuddy hadn't come in.

"I thought I took that stupid thing away from you. How did you get it back?"

"Don't call it that. You're going to hurt its feelings. And if you must know it followed me home. Can I keep him? I'll take _real_ good care of him."

"Wait a minute, Audrey was in my office yesterday…" she trailed off realizing what had occurred. "She gave it to you!"

"Shouldn't you be shouting at her?"

"Fine," she said calming herself down with a sharp exhale. "Since this isn't working, here's what we're going to do. Audrey for every hour House is in the clinic, you will be helping me. If I need filing done, you'll be filling. If I need paperwork done or phones answered, that's what you'll do."

"And if she gets any hits on that dating website, get ready to sort through the freaks."

At the following silence, House looked up innocently at Cuddy's disgusted face.

"Was I not supposed to know about that? Oops."

Cuddy glared at him and went on to preempt Audrey's protests.

"You will be compensated, _if_ you do a good job. I'll see both of you tomorrow afternoon."

She left sharply closing the door behind her.

"Huh. You done yet?"

"Almost." The electronic fanfare sounded and House relinquished the console. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his leg. "How are you fine with being Cuddy's minion?"

"Simple. She said I have to work every hour you're in the clinic. If you're not in the clinic, I don't have to work. I hope you know some good hiding places."

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"Here, this came for you." House flicked an envelope in Audrey's direction, hitting her squarely in the temple. "I think it's from that moron of a lawyer your dad hired."

Audrey bit back a grin and ripped open the envelope. For the next few minutes she was silent, so much so, that House looked over the refrigerator door to see what was up. She covered her mouth with her hand. Intrigued, House casually limped over and peered over her shoulder. Mechanically, she handed the letter to him and slumped back into the couch.

House sat next to her perusing the letter and read out the interesting parts.

"_You may wonder why I chose Dr. House as your guardian. Sure, he's a jerk, but he's the kind of person I wish I could have been. I've been scared all my life, especially since your mother died. Now I guess it's catching up with me. I want you to be like Dr. House, be what I wasn't. Be fearless, don't care what anyone thinks. I love you so much, Audrey._

_Love,_

_Daddy_

House lowered the note.

"What is it with the dead always leaving letters?"

Audrey didn't answer, only sniffled and wiped her eyes with her palm. Uncomfortable, House shifted in his seat, trying to fill the silence.

"He's still an idiot. Who in their right mind would want their kid to turn out like me?"

Instead of answering his question, Audrey started sniveling in to his shoulder.

"He's really gone isn't he?"

Despite his initial abhorrence of her reaction, he awkwardly reached around her and pulled her into his version of a comforting hug. As she cried on his shoulder, he grinned ignoring the fact that she was dampening one of his favourite t-shirts and that what they were doing was horribly clichéd. All of that paled in comparison to the fact that he had been right about her.


End file.
